Walking through Saigon outside of Ben Thanh Market, I saw a small, odd looking motorcycle among the masses of Honda Super Cubs, Dreams and Waves normally seen in Vietnam. It was some sort of hardtail cruiser-style bike, but on a scale smaller than I had ever seen, with a horizontal single cylinder engine. A closer look at the logo on its fuel tank revealed a familiar name: Schwinn. Yes, Schwinn, once the maker of the bicycles that were part of the childhoods of millions of Americans, now reduced to a foreign-owned trademark adorning a tiny parody of an American-style motorcycle. How the mighty have fallen.

1925 Excelsior Super X photo from http://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/

Saying “Schwinn” and “mighty” in the context of motorcycles is more appropriate than most motorcycle enthusiasts know. Schwinn, founded in Chicago in 1895, once covered the entire breadth of the range of two-wheeled vehicles, from bicycles to large-displacement luxury motorcycles that were at the top of the U.S. market. It was one of the leading motorcycle manufacturers in the United States, one of “big three” along with Harley-Davidson and Indian. Schwinn entered the motorcycle business in 1912 by acquiring Excelsior, which began as a bicycle manufacturer in 1876 and entered the motorcycle business in 1907, only four years after the foundation of Harley-Davidson and six years after that of Indian.

Excelsior motorcycles established a number of milestones. In 1913, Soon after the Schwinn acquisition, a 1,000cc V-twin Excelsior became the first motorcycle to be officially timed at over 100 miles per hour (Glenn Curtiss set a land speed record of 136 miles per hour on his V-8 motorcycle in 1907, but it was an unofficially timed record on a highly specialized one-off machine that used a 4,400cc V-8 engine intended for airplanes and dirigibles). The 1925 Excelsior Super X became the first American motorcycle with a 45 cubic inch/750cc engine, establishing the middleweight size class that would last into the 1950s.

1917 Henderson Four photo from http://rpdoody.zenfolio.com/

In 1917, Schwinn made a significant step upmarket when it acquired the Henderson motorcycle company, a maker of luxury motorcycles with four cylinder engines, founded in 1912. The Henderson Four was the first production four cylinder motorcycle in the United States and one of the first in the world, preceded only by the FN Four of 1905 and several obscure earlier machines. It was arguably the top end of the American motorcycle industry, its four cylinder engines making its machines faster and smoother than any rivals until the 1919 introduction of the four cylinder ACE, designed by Henderson founder George Henderson after the sale of his earlier company to Schwinn, and which continued as the Indian Four after the second-largest U.S. motorcycle manufacturer acquired ACE in 1927.

Although not a factory product, this spectacular one-off custom streamliner body from 1936 being built around a 1930 Henderson Four speaks volumes about the stature of Henderson in its era.

Schwinn produced Excelsior and Henderson motorcycles until 1931, when it exited a motorcycle market collapsing during the Great Depression. The decline of the motorcycle market is illustrated by annual sales of market leader Harley-Davidson, which fell from 20,946 in 1929 to 10,500 in 1931, then to only 3,703 in 1933–less than one percent of its production level in the 2000s.

There was a short-lived attempt to revive the Excelsior-Henderson name during the 1990s, but it produced fewer than 2,000 motorcycles and filed for bankruptcy in 1999.

The story of a succession of acquisitions and bankruptcies is an appropriate place to return to the present-day Schwinn. Schwinn became the giant of the U.S. bicycle industry during the 1950s. During the 1960s, it incorporated styling elements of chopper and bobber motorcycles into its bicycles with the wildly popular Sting-Ray. During the 1970s, though, the company fell into decline, for many reasons: an aging product line that failed to keep pace with new technology and manufacturing methods, or with the growing popularity of new market niches, including sports, BMX, and mountain bikes; and increasing competition from Japan, Europe, and domestic startups.

The 1980s saw a death spiral for Schwinn that brought the company to an end by the beginning of the 1990s. Labor problems and rising outsourcing to Japan and Taiwan led to the end of domestic production in 1991, making the company only a marketer of foreign-made bicycles. Bankruptcy in 1992 resulted in the company name and assets changing hands multiple times, until they ended up acquired in 2004 by a Canadian company, which affixes the Schwinn name to bicycles made in China. It apparently also makes motorbikes under the Schwinn name, unknown to me until seeing this one.

The exact identity of this motorbike is a mystery because Schwinn’s English-language website does not list it, and it also does not exist on any English-language motorcycle website that I could find. Its concept is easily determined from its mechanical bones, though. Powered by a copy of a Honda Super Cub engine, apparently a 110cc version from a Honda Dream or Wave based on the “110c” sticker, it has a faux hardtail frame with a suspension setup similar to that of a Vincent, with a shock absorber unit mounted to the top of the triangular rear wheel frame rather than to the bottom of it, as on a Harley-Davidson Softail. The result is a cruiser bike no larger or more powerful than a Honda Super Cub, with an exhaust rumble reminiscent of bubble gum cards whipping through bicycle wheel spokes.

As if the basic machine were not ridiculous enough, and if the devil is in the details, this motorcycle is damned. The small white cargo box would be unfashionable anywhere but looks especially silly in Vietnam, where no one uses cargo boxes except for UPS and pizza delivery men, and handling outlandish cargoes with one’s own arms and legs appears to be part of the national culture. The solo seat, another almost never seen feature in Vietnam, is appropriate since most likely no one would want to be seen on the back of this bike anyway.

“A Schwinn … a Schwinn …” Being in Vietnam, I had a hard time getting a slightly modified famous line from Apocalypse Now out of my head after seeing the Schwinn name on this motorcycle. The leading American bicycle company during my childhood, producer of every bike that I rode before I got my driver’ s license, and once the third-largest and arguably the highest-end American motorcycle manufacturer, its name survives on a strange low-end product in a country where its name means nothing. While not as painful as a spear through the heart, it did cause a twinge in the same place. It is a sad fate for a name that once was part of my childhood and those of millions of others.

19 Comments

that bike is kinda grim aint it,lol though schwinn did continue to make small cc motorbike from 1930 to 1970 as in the wizzer 75cc bikes and the double wizz two 75 cc engines side by side mated together the sad thing is as you said the schwinn name means nothing now witch is very sad .i have a hobby of restoreing vintage schwinns so ive come to no the quite well im restoreing one of the first ever mountain crossover bikes from 81 whitch still used there classic cruser frame but with an extra renforced bar across the top of the frame scwinns are very rare here in the uk we had our own vertion here in the late 70s early 80s the raleigh bomber id love to restore a double wizz or a 55 black phantom..dxx

A very interesting piece on the history of Schwinn and what became of it. You remind me that I have a couple of Schwinn pieces that need to be written. Like you, I was a “Schwinn man” before my driving days.

Hey, I can’t wait. I’m a pretty serious Schwinn Fanboi myself. I’ve got three Chicago-built Schwinns from the the 70’s. Two of them are 10-speeds (a blue Suburban and a metallic brown Continental) and the other one is a blue single speed/coaster brake cruiser bike with the curvy cantilever frame that you see on Stingrays, only adult-sized and with a traditional saddle in place of the banana seat… you know what I’m talkin’ about. All three of them are cool bikes, but my inner child really loves that cruiser bike.

Okay, before you brougham fanatics get too excited, I should probably explain that the metallic brown Continental is a bicycle.

I owned one of the last good Schwinn mountain bikes, believe it was a ’99 or so. It was a quality bike and the Schwinn name still had good prestige at that time, despite the bankruptcy in the early 90’s. Now they are all department store junk.

I always wonder why companies are so anxious to stop manufacturing themselves. Once you do that you are just a middleman and it’s only a matter of time before you are not needed at all. None of the major bike “manufacturers” today really make bikes. They make or have somebody else make a frame for them and then put a package of 3rd-party components on them. The name on the downtube is almost completely meaningless.

While I never had a Schwinn growing up, my first ‘real’ adult bike was a 1991 Schwinn Voyaguer. I remember my dad admiring it until he saw the ‘made in Japan’ sticker under the headtube badge. What he said then, I will not repeat(WWII Navy guy).
I can remember reading that Schwinn used to sell more motorcycles than bicycles.
Thank for the story, robert

The Henderson streamliner looks like something Flash Gordon would ride.I’d like to see an inline 4 modern cruiser instead of all the V twins(nothing wrong with V twins I’ve always wanted a Sportster) for something different.I’m surprised no one hasn’t made a modern Henderson 4 yet

There was a UK revival of the Indian Four which used a modified Volvo four cylinder engine and a BMW transmission and shaft drive, and it was close to being a modern Henderson Four. It was designed and produced by the frontman of the 1970s punk band The Rezillos, who apparently saved and invested his money well, and started a classic Indian parts company that eventually branched out into producing completely new bikes. I believe that they closed up shop several years ago, though.

That makes two vehicles I didn’t know existed today (this and the Stagea). Oddly enough, I’m rather drawn to the styling on this Schwinn, as it sor of reminds me of the Harley 125 Hummer I spent a bit of time on one summer. Solo seat, peanut tank, etc. Might make a cute little around-town bike.

Nice history on Henderson and Excelsior. I’m familiar with them, but had forgotten about the Schwinn connection. Love that in-line Henderson four; I was amazed the first time I saw one as a kid. Had no idea such a thing existed!

The concept and styling of this bike are quite sound, I think, and whoever designed it probably had some of the all-time greats in mind — the use of a Vincent-like engine-as-frame and rear suspension most likely is not merely a coincidence. The Schwinn name actually detracts, though; as a Honda, it would be OK, but the use of the Schwinn name seems a force-fit. Also, among the ultra-functional Honda Cubs with the same engine, it somehow seems wrong. As a 250cc, it would be big and powerful by standards there; with the same 110cc single, it’s unimpressive.

FWIW, Schwinn isn’t the bottom feeder of bicycle companies (that spot has traditionally been solidly held by Huffy). While Schwinn does have a line of cheap bikes that are sold at big-box discount stores like Wal-Mart and Target, they actually have another, higher-tier line that uses better components and are sold only at Local Bike Stores (LBS).

Better is relative of course. I wasn’t aware they now have a “Signature” line, which does indeed appear to be decent quality. I guess I’ve been out of the loop for a while, kids will do that. But it’s still nowhere near what they used to sell, with a few just reaching into the bottom end of mid-range bikes and the bulk of them being entry-level.

Mongoose essentially did the same thing and are now irrelevant in the cycling enthusiast world. Few people spending $1000+ on a bike want to have the same name on it as the crap sold at WalMart. It’s the same reason Lexus exists and the why the VW Phaeton was such a failure.

The bicycle shop Schwinn’s are as good as anything else out there in the mass-market, full-line category. Where they hurt themselves is selling the WalMart and Target bikes as Schwinn’s – even though those are the top of the line bikes sold at said venues.

A couple of years ago, during the Chinese scooter boom, Schwinn was also carrying a line of 50cc scooters, although I have no idea how well they went over. Haven’t seen any on the street, which is probably telling.

As an owner of a Whizzer NER motorbike, I really like this one. Perfect machine for puttering around town on a Sunday morning, getting the Sunday paper. It does have a sort of Harley Hummer meets Whizzer meets Ducati look to it!

I too had a Schwinn. a red 63 “Racer” with cruiser style saddle and handlebars and the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub. Sold some 30 years ago.

Found a Schwinn “Collegiate” a dozen or so years ago: cruiser style saddle and handlebars with 5 speed derailleur rear hub. Still has a city of Ann Arbor bike license from 1969 on it. Never had time to do anything with it. Still sitting in my basement.

Tiddlers are fun and you can build them any which – way you like , from Roadsters to Cruisers to pretty wild Choppers & Bobbers .

Sadly most Americans only look at BIG size and so miss all the fun ~ the Vintage Japanese Los Angeles Moto Club has a fun Ride & Campout in Death Valley every year and when I joined a couple decades ago , I immediately got them to have Tiddler rides every couple years ~ mucho fun lemme tell you .

Just curious, were 50 cc mopeds ever popular in the US ? I mean the ones that looked like a real motorcycle, the ones for 16 to 18 years old guys.

Still very popular when I was at the Dutch equivalent of high school in the early eighties. The Mercedes among those mopeds was the German Zündapp, like the one pictured. You also had the Kreidlers and the Japanese Yamahas and Hondas became popular. The Hondas were more looking like dirt bikes. This type of toys for boys is gone now, the only thing I see (and especially hear) now are those screaming scooters.

Of course those mopeds just had to be tuned, a classmate had a Yamaha in the early eighties that did well over 60 mph-100 km/h. Very illegal, without any doubt, but that was exactly an important fun factor.